In today's overkill digest, we take a look at the Game Awards.
... Geoff Keighley
The Game Awards took place this week, and they were... ok.
We've seen many trailers and celebrities on the stage, mixed with some awards and many cut-off speeches by developers receiving said awards. I didn't bother to stay awake this year, as it took place in the middle of the night for us Europeans. And going by the internet's consensus, I didn't miss much.
There were some cool trailers, and I am most excited by the new free God of War: Ragnarök DLC and Marvel's Blade. I watched the trailer below to catch up on everything that was shown.
And I watched this video to see who won what.
One thing that the whole community agrees on (see here or here) is that the award parts of the Game Awards felt even more like an afterthought than the prior years. Just watch how quickly Neil Newbon, voice actor for Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3, was shooed off the stage despite his subject:
Heck, even Keighley himself agrees:
By the way - I do agree that the music was played too fast for award winners this year, and I asked our team to relax that rule as the show went on. While no one was actually cut off, it’s something to address going forward.
A show like this at the end of a year marked by an enormous amount of layoffs industry-wide feels like a farce.
Don't get me wrong: The Game Awards never genuinely felt like anything more than a commercial, but when a sign starts flashing 15 seconds after a winner received their award while Keighley's buddy Kojima can go on for minutes, I wonder why even bother giving awards in the first place? (I'm a big fan of Kojima, but he had nothing to show!)
If the Game Awards are like the Golden Globe, it's maybe time someone brings the gaming industry's Oscars to life. As long as it is someone other than Keighley.
In other news
- Timo reviewed Lords of the Fallen, and with the right tweaks, the game runs quite nicely on Steam Deck.
- We finally got the GTA VI trailer, and while my hype wasn't that big before the release, it is now! But ugh, 2025.
- Remember Only Up, the viral hit from earlier this year that finally got pulled from the Steam Store? Well, Only Up 2 is coming this month, but it has nothing to do with the original game.
- Adventures are coming to Vampire Survivors, aka the Steam Deck game.
- Something I didn't expect to read in December 2023: Skyrim got an update, bringing Steam Deck support and new paid mods... Ok, maybe I should have expected that last part.
- We got a new trailer for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, with more info coming in Summer 2024.
- A report by IGN's Rebek Valentine shows a dire picture at Bungie. If the Destiny 2 developer doesn't meet its financial goals, it will lose its independence and be fully controlled by Sony.